Wildlife Ranger - Ringwood Beat
| Posting date: | 27 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £32,547 to £33,711 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 20 July 2025 |
| Location: | BH24 2EJ |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 413745/1 |
Summary
You will work as part of the district's wildlife management team, protecting forests and supporting conservation priorities, including mammal management. You will be a champion for our health and safety culture by demonstrating our value of ‘look out and look after’.
You will deliver forest protection and habitat conservation objectives through:
• Controlling deer and other mammals to protect forest regeneration and biodiversity in line with wider district plans and objectives.
• Undertaking regular liaison with Forest District staff and assisting with beat and recreational planning, monitoring and delivery.
• Building and maintaining relationships with Forestry Commission (FC) and external contacts, where this benefits collaborative wildlife management and the functioning of the wider South Forest District.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
We are Forestry England. We are the country’s largest land manager, caring for the nation’s forests for people, nature and the economy. The foundation of our organisation is our world-class sustainable management of the nation’s forests.
Our South England Forest District team is made up of around 170 people with a diverse range of roles - from foresters and wildlife rangers to civil engineers, and ecologists to marketing professionals. We all contribute towards the management of 46,000 hectares of public forest estate that stretch from Sussex to Dorset, and from Berkshire to the Isle of Wight. Nearly all of our forests are within either a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Much of this forest is of high national importance for nature conservation and wildlife, and of international importance for biodiversity. South England Forest District is therefore responsible for land that includes Special Areas of Conservation (for habitats), Special Protection Areas (for birds) and Ramsar sites (for wetlands). We also provide public access and recreation in our forests, with nearly 50 million visits every year to South England Forest District.
If the post you are applying for is PB5 or above, you will be asked to join the District duty roster, after a suitable period of time.
Operational Responsibility
- undertake monitoring and control of deer populations within beat following guidance from national and district policies and achieving cull targets as specified in the South England Forest District Deer Strategy
- keep and train a dog for deer carcass follow up as outlined in the current dog policy
- undertake inspection and preparation of deer carcasses in line with national Deer Management Wild Venison Standard
- provide a reliable prompt response to emergency call outs involving RTA’s, fire, travellers, trespass etc and follow up incident by completing any administrative actions as required
- undertake humane and safe despatch of wild animals involved in road traffic collisions (RTCs) on or adjacent to the Forestry England (FE) estate
- monitor and control of mammals to protect restock sites, natural regeneration and sites of high conservation importance as per approved Forest Design Plans
- support beat team with dangerous tree inspections and/or operations as directed by Wildlife Manager or Beat Manager
Wider District Support Responsibility
- support the beat team with planning of forest operations
- participate in the Operational Site Assessment (OSA) process, giving written guidance and advice to deliver conservation benefits - complete OSA paperwork to agreed deadlines
- review and amend GIS information as required
- attend and participate in site meetings, proactively identifying opportunities and constraints
- work within the beat team to assist in the delivery of forest operations and fulfil necessary requirements for contract management - attending pre-commencement meetings, providing advice and support
- support the Planning and Environment team to deliver conservation and habitat management, undertaking practical conservation tasks and putting forward larger improvement and maintenance programmes to the Beat Forester
- regularly check and update conservation data for your beat and report edits where necessary
- carry out prompt and thorough inspection of restock and/or stock fences as directed by Beat Manager and provide a comprehensive fence line inspection report within given timeframe
Stakeholder Engagement, Representation and Communications
- work with external stakeholders and organisations to deliver wildlife and habitat management on a landscape scale
- maintain positive relationships with neighbours and partners, always promoting FE and its work within local communities
- deal with problems in a professional manner and seek advice from support staff when required
- participate in events that take place on the estate and represent FE values, sharing knowledge and experiences in a manner that is suitable for the audience
- monitor your beat for encroachments using local procedures to deal with minor encroachments yourself and working through complex cases with the Estates team to bring about a solution
Health and Safety
- ensure that all work programmes undertaken meet Forestry England’s and regulatory standards of health and safety, operational efficiency and quality of output
- ensure compliance with lone working policies and use Forestry England’s lone working system when working alone
- ensure that equipment and facilities used in the delivery of duties are clean and maintained to a high standard
And any other tasks reasonably requested by your line manager.
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